Why did a football club stage a match outside their local immigration reporting centre?

Mount Pleasant Park FC held a football match outside Vulcan House, the Home Office building in Sheffield where people applying for leave to remain in the UK have to regularly report.

At each reporting interview – usually weekly, fortnightly or monthly – the person might be taken without warning to an immigration detention centre. It can be a terrifying experience, and these centres are becoming the focus of solidarity actions and protests across the UK.

We met up with some of the team, to ask them what prompted this action, and how they went about planning it.

The whole process was a great example of how, with a little thought and planning and talking to those directly impacted by detention, allies can get involved in the campaign and play to their strengths.

Interview with MPPFC players (needs sound)

As discussed in the interview, Mount Pleasant Park are currently making a video about how and why this whole thing came about – look out for it coming soon.

Would you like to organise a sports-themed event to support the campaign? Get in touch and we’ll help!

These Walls Must Fall is an initiative coordinated by Right to Remain. We are building a network of community campaigns to raise awareness of and challenge the use of immigration detention in the UK. We are extremely grateful for the financial support through charitable grant funding from Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Ben and Jerry's, and from public donations.